一人ひとりの生産性の追求とWellbeingを実現する働き方改革:─失敗から学ぶ実験思考；BASFジャパンの改革事例─

The ability to measure productivity, work performed, or contributions toward the clinical mission has become an important issue facing anesthesiology departments in private practice and academic settings. Unfortunately, the practice and billing of anesthesia services makes it difficult to quantify individual productivity. This study examines the following methods of measuring individual productivity: normalized clinical days per year (nCD/yr); time units per operating-room day worked (TU/OR day); normalized time units per year (nTU/yr); total American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) units per OR day (tASA/OR day); and normalized total ASA units per year (ntASA/yr). Billing and scheduling data for clinical activities of faculty members of an anesthesiology department at a university medical center were collected and analyzed for the 1998 fiscal year. All clinical sites and all clinical faculty anesthesiologists were included unless they spent less than 20% of their time during the fiscal year providing clinical care, i.e., less than 0.2 clinical full-time equivalent. Outliers, defined as faculty who had productivity greater or less than 1 SD from the mean, were examined in detail. Mean and median values were reported for each measurement, and different groups of outliers were identified. nCD/yr identified faculty who worked more than their clinical full-time equivalent would have predicted. TU/OR day and tASA/OR day identified apparently low-productivity faculty as those who worked a large portion of their time in obstetric anesthesia or an ambulatory surgicenter. tASA/OR day identified specialty anesthesiologists as apparently high-productivity faculty. nTU/yr and ntASA/yr were products of the per-OR day measurement and nCD/yr. Each of the measurements studied values certain types of productivity more than others. By defining what type of service is most important to reward, the most appropriate measure or combination of measures of productivity can be chosen. In the authors' department, nCD/yr is the most useful measure of individual productivity because it measures an individual anesthesiologist's contribution to daily staffing, includes all clinical sites, is independent of nonanesthesia factors, and is easy to collect and determine.

Fibrinogen is an acute-phase reactant and an independent cardiovascular risk factor. Insulin without amino acid replacement acutely suppressed fibrinogen production in nondiabetic and type 1 diabetic individuals. Fibrinogen production and plasma concentration increase in insulin-resistant type 2 diabetes. It is not known whether altered response to insulin contributes to hyperfibrinogenemia in type 2 diabetes. Fibrinogen fractional (FSR) and absolute (ASR) synthesis rates were measured using a leucine isotopic model in type 2 diabetic men (n = 7; age = 51 +/- 3 years; BMI = 26.7 +/- 1 kg/m(2)) compared with matched nondiabetic subjects under basal conditions and following a 4-h euglycemic-, euaminoacidemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp. Basal fibrinogen concentration (+35%, P < 0.05) and ASR (+35%, P < 0.05) were greater in the diabetic subjects. Following clamp, fibrinogen FSR and ASR were unchanged in the control subjects. In contrast, fibrinogen FSR and ASR increased by 41 and 43%, respectively (P < 0.05), in the diabetic subjects. Thus, fibrinogen production is acutely increased by insulin when euglycemia and euaminoacidemia are maintained in type 2 diabetic individuals but not in nondiabetic individuals. Enhanced fibrinogen production by insulin is likely to be a key alteration contributing to hyperfibrinogenemia and therefore cardiovascular risk in type 2 diabetes. Unchanged fibrinogen production in nondiabetic individuals suggests a role of plasma amino acids in regulating fibrinogen production in humans.

The research is aimed at modernizing the technology of designing and manufacturing an electrode instrument for electrical processing methods in order to reduce costs in terms of experimental design and individual production. In this regard, the article is aimed at disclosing the possibilities of using modern computer-aided design tools and rapid prototyping technology for the manufacture of a complex profile tool for individual and experimental production. The materials of the article are of practical value for enterprises of the machine-building complex, as they allow making changes in the technology of designing and manufacturing electrode tools for electrical processing methods and using modern computer-aided design systems and additive technologies that reduce the cost and increase the variability of its application.

Individual eminence in counseling psychology was examined through a textbook citation analysis conducted on four current textbooks and the three most recent Annual Review of Psychology chapters on counseling psychology. For the 223 leading authors in this textbook citation study, data on individual research productivity in psychology (from 1980 to 1990), and on a subset of eight journals of special importance for counseling psychology (also from 1980-1990) was obtained from the PsycLIT data base. An estimate of the scholarly impact of these authors was obtained from citation counts from the 1987 through 1990 volumes of the Social Sciences Citation Index.

Always play against par? The effect of inter-team coopetition on individual team productivity

Mathematical texts from across time indicate that the needs of the societies of different eras and different places have guided practices in mathematics itself and in how it was taught at school, responding to the needs and exigencies of each age. In some cases, even new discoveries were seen as part of a collaborative effort, rather than the product of individuals—the classic example being the Pythagoreans, who worked as a group to do mathematics (Heath 1921). A similar social attitude has emerged in the current Information Age, as evidenced by projects such as PolyMath, spearheaded by renowned mathematician Tim Gowers—a worldwide project involving mathematicians from all over the globe collaborating through the Internet to solve problems (Nielsen 2012). PolyMath started in 2009 when Gowers posted a famous problem on his blog, the density version of the Hales-Jewett theorem, asking people to help him find a proof for it. Seven weeks later, Gowers wrote that the problem had probably been solved, thanks to the many suggestions he had received. Since then, the PolyMath project has become a global collaborative project, recalling not only the ancient Pythagoreans but, in recent times, the Nicolas Bourbaki group of French mathematicians, who initially wanted to design updated textbooks for teaching contemporary mathematics in the post-World War II era under this pseudonym, rather than under the name of any one individual.

While maintaining a healthy diet can be challenging in the current food environment, food substitutions can offer individuals the opportunity to replace less nutritious foods with products having a more balanced nutrient composition. To this end, we have developed an approach that can recommend healthier alternative food products in individuals' current diets. The first part of the algorithm automatically generates food substitutions that are in the same food category than the query food using Graph Neural Networks (e.g., machine learning model designed to make predictions on graphs), while the second part ranks these food options according to their highest Nutri-Score. The specific results achieved were a Recall Rate of 0.647 and 0.733 for the top 5 and top 10 results, respectively; meaning that our algorithm finds more than 65% of the relevant ingredients in the top-5 recommended food substitutions and 75% of the relevant ingredients in the top-10 recommended food substitutions, showing promising outcomes. However, one major drawback of our approach is that it is less effective in discovering food substitutions that are not closely related as our algorithm restricts the recommended food item to be in the same food category than the query food.

Traditional social science research tends to regard political attitudes as the product of individuals’ internal processes. This approach ignores the existence of external influences on individual attitudes, particularly that of social communication. We argue that political attitudes are neither confined to the individual, nor are they wholly social constructions. This study examines how political information is structured and communicated through a social medium. We employ multi-agent simulation to replicate and extend a previous simulation of attitude formation based on Latane’s (American Psychologist 36:343–356, 1981) theory of social impact. Specifically, our extension of the previous model incorporates motivated reasoning processes, attitude persuasiveness, and agent uncertainty in order to more accurately capture the pervasiveness of social communication. These changes allow us to model effects not previously possible, such as attitude polarization and information cascades. Results from this study show that realistic structures in the distributions of attitudes can be recreated using prevailing aggregate- and individual-level models of attitude formation. By formally modeling the dynamics of social impact, researchers gain insight into social influences on individuals’ attitudes and the consequences for public opinion.

A correlational analysis of individual magnitude estimation and production exponents at the same frequency has been performed as well as an analysis of individual exponents produced across frequency (250, 1000, and 3000 Hz). Results show, in agreement with those of Wanschura and Dawson [J. Exp. Psychol. 102, 806-812 (1974)], that a moderately positive but not significant correlation coefficient is obtained between individual magnitude estimation and production data. However, strong positive correlation coefficients are found when individual magnitude estimation and production data are combined and then, compared across frequency. These results imply that individual differences in exponents not only persist over time but also remain stable across changes in stimulus frequency. Further results disclose that the slope (exponent) of the equal-sensation function between two different stimuli can be predicted from individual magnitude estimation and production data. Examples are given showing that the stability of individual exponents can be used to predict the slope of the loudness-recruitment function produced by ears with cochlear pathology, i.e., transitivity can be achieved for individuals.

Study regionAkaki is a headwater catchment of Awash River Basin that hosts the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. The area encompasses several agglomerated towns, water supply, and hydropower reservoirs and is characterized by a chain of mountains and floodplains. Due to basin rainfall, and the expansion of urbanized areas, the catchment is frequently affected by flooding. Study focusThis study evaluates dynamic Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) approach to improve rainfall estimation over the catchment by blending four high-resolution satellite rainfall estimate (SRE) products. Using daily data (2003–2019) observed at thirteen stations as a reference, seven statistical metrics served to assess the point and spatial scale accuracy of the rainfall estimates. New hydrological insightsMain findings from this study are: (i) the blended product outperformed the individual SRE products by notably improving correlation with in-situ observed rainfall, and reducing the error of the estimated rainfall, (ii) the blended and individual SRE products performed better in the highlands than the lowlands of the catchment, and (iii) the amount of daily rainfall during the main-rainy season was mostly overestimated by the individual SRE products but was fairly estimated by the blended product. This study showed the nonexistence of surpassing individual SRE products and emphasized the blending of several products for gaining optimal results from each product.

Production planning in the case of uncertain individual demand Extension for an MRP II concept

The possibility to assess the instantaneous production of benthic invertebrates in the field avoiding direct measurements of somatic and generative growth is discussed. The scope for growth (SfG) (assimilation minus respiration) and instantaneous individual production (mass increment during growth) for Asellus aquaticus were determined and compared. Results of this study have confirmed the assumption that the difference between SfG and individual production of isopods P is approximately equal to reproductive investment. In juveniles and males these differences should be compensated, in large degree, for the exuviae. As confirmed by the closely identified values of P after summing it with eggs production, excess of SfG in comparison with P may be attributed to the part of energy which is allocated to generative products. So, the predicted coincidence of SfG with P coupled with egg production allows to expect that SfG may be implicated in evaluation of instantaneous population production. To verify this assumption, the data on population production of A. aquaticus previously reported in the literature were drawn. The results have shown a close conformity of compared data, and led to the conclusion that this method should be of more general use, and not limited to the populations exposed to stress, as it is currently treated.

Employer Learning, Productivity and the Earnings Distribution: Evidence from Performance Measures

Gladiolus rust, caused by Uromyces transversalis, is a quarantine-significant pathogen in the United States. However, the fungus is endemic to commercial gladiolus-producing areas in Mexico and has been intercepted frequently on gladiolus plants entering the United States for the cut-flower market. The present study assessed 15 fungicide active ingredients (five quinone outside inhibitors: azoxystrobin, fluoxastrobin, kresoxim-methyl, pyraclostrobin, and trifloxystrobin; six triazoles: cyproconazole, difenoconazole, epoxiconazole, myclobutanil, propiconazole, and tebuconazole; three succinate dehydrogenase inhibitors: boscalid, flutolanil, and oxycarboxin; and one broad-spectrum protectant: chlorothalonil) and one plant activator, acibenzolar-S-methyl, applied alone, in combinations, and in various rotations for efficacy against U. transversalis on field-grown gladiolus plants in Mexico. Experiments were conducted in 2010, 2011, and 2012 in commercial fields in Atlixco and Santa Isabel Cholula in Puebla and Cuautla and Tlayacapan in Morelos. Fungicides were applied at 2-week intervals starting when plants had three full leaves. Disease severity was recorded each week for at least 7 weeks after the first application. Under high disease pressure in 2010, fungicides were less effective than in 2011 and 2012, when disease pressure was not as high. In all 3 years, most fungicide treatments significantly reduced disease severity. Triazoles were more effective than quinone outside inhibitors when applied as individual products in 2010, and combinations of two fungicides in different mode-of-action groups were more effective than fungicides applied individually in 2011. In 2012, rotations of fungicides, either with individual products or with combinations of two products, provided excellent rust management. Reducing disease development by U. transversalis on commercial gladiolus plants in Mexico will reduce the potential for introducing this pathogen on cut flowers into the United States.

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